Chapter 3: Advice:

Summer passed by without incident, and for the first three months following Sam's graduation Dean hadn't regretted reaching out to Bobby. Actually it's been kinda cool having someone else to talk to. He and Sam had continued talking with Bobby, and later Pastor Jim, over the summer and it had been pleasant. They never really 'talked shop', given that he and Sammy were out of the hunting business, so it was just mostly talking about sports or cars or how the two were doing as civilians.

Dean sighed as he deleted another line from the email he was drafting. How do I say 'stop wasting so much shit' without sounding like a hardass? He rubbed his temple as he watched the cursor blink. He wasn't a huge fan of emails, but it was part of his new position so he had to use the annoyance. Recently there'd been an uptick in attempting to fit incorrect parts in two of the service departments which led to the incorrect pieces being wasted. Apparently it was called 'shrink', and as the head of parts and labor he had to decrease it by 6% for the year. As he thought of how to phrase his email his phone began to ring. He picked it up without thinking.

"Mark Collins, VP Parts and Labor, how can I help you?" He responded automatically.

"Shit. He must've given me the wrong number." A man growled on the other side of the line.

"If you need me to I can transfer you to another department. Who're you looking for?" Dean responded pulling up the staff directory on his email program to check the list of listed extensions.

"Dean Winchester." The man responded, "But I think I have the wrong number anyway-"

"Wait." Dean stated, stopping the man from hanging up. "Where did you get this number from?"

"What's it to you?"

"I might know Dean. Is this about a hunting trip?" He was sure to stress the last two words.

"Maybe…" The man paused, "…I'm going after some big game and I wanted to ask his advice on what I should do."

Dean's eyes darted around. "Hold on one second." There was no one near his office… Dean bit his lip as he stood up and walked toward the window, drawing the miniblinds. I have to figure out who this guy is, because hanging up on a pissed off hunter is not a mistake I'm going to end up doing twice… He then quickly locked his door before returning to his desk, "Look, you've got the right number. I'm gonna guess Bobby told you about me?"

"No. Some guy told me at The Roadhouse."

Damn it! "Fine. Whatever. First things first: who are you?"

"What's it matter to you?" the man responded with a huff.

"It matters that I know who I give advice to. I'm not exactly interested in getting someone killed because they ignore what I tell them." Dean sternly replied, a good twenty seconds passing with silence between the two men. "Look, fine, I don't need a name, but you need to listen to what I say. Got it?"

"Why do you think I called? John Winchester was a legend, figured his kids would be too."

Dean winced at the mention of his father. "Look, I'm not in the game anymore." Dean thought of Sam's words from a few months prior-we could still help fight evil and help people-damn it… "But I can try and help, what are you up against? I'm gonna guess either a shapeshifter, wendigo, or worse given 'big game'." Dean clicked his pen absent-mindedly as he glanced out the blinds-making sure no one was able to hear him.

"Werewolf. Maybe two."

"Shit. You got any help?" Dean frowned as he thought back to the first werewolf he had to deal with-he had been 13.

"No."

"Get help." Dean stated, fucking amateurs... "Figure out who they are during the day then use anything silver against them. Bullet or knife should do it if you're accurate enough." He clicked his pen against the desk, "And forget this number."

"Alright. Thanks, I guess."

Dean hung up and unlocked his door before returning to his email, his heart beating much quicker than it had been only a few minutes before.

**SPN**

Over the next week more calls came in, though now it was also on the home line in addition to Dean's work number. After a third call at 2 am the brothers had had enough and Dean had angrily disconnected both phones until the next morning, muttering about 'some goddamn peace and quiet' as Sam watched him skulk back to his room.

The next morning Dean immediately reconnected the phone in the kitchen and dialed Bobby's number, pouring himself a generous cup of coffee as he did so. "Bobby. What the hell?!"

"Good morning to you too, sourpuss." The older hunter responded, yawning as the time difference meant it was still very early morning for the Dakota resident.

"Why did you give my numbers out to every Tom, Dick, and Harry out hunting? It's been non-stop calls for the last week!" Dean wished he could be there in person so Bobby could feel guilty over the new bags that had former under both brothers' eyes.

"I didn't give your number to anybody except for Jim." Bobby refuted, "So I'm sorry if you're getting calls, but I swear it wasn't me."

Sam took the phone and replied, "It's fine Bobby, Dean and I are just a bit on edge with the calls is all. We don't exactly want to be other people's gofers when it comes to the supernatural, especially when it means being awoken at all hours of the day and Dean being pestered at work."

"I get that." Bobby chuckled, "How do you think I felt when it first started happening to me?"

"Point taken." Sam responded as Dean took another swig from his mug.

"I'll reach out to Jim and see who he passed it on to and we'll try to get the calls to stop. Fair warning though, it's not easy to get hunters to stop going after you once they know you're valuable with information."

"I get it. Dad drilled it into us when we were kids, so we know a fair bit about this stuff compared to people with less experience." Dean commented. "I just wish that a stack of books in the attic and being John Winchester's kid didn't automatically make us the go-to for advice."

"I know you two have gone native, so to speak, so I'll try to pass it on that you aren't in the life anymore. Maybe it'll get them off your back. In any case, I'm sorry you're getting dragged back into this mess."

"Well, I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later." Dean sighed as he and Bobby signed off.

**Author's Note**

I'm so sorry I forgot to upload this yesterday! It was Mother's Day here in the US and I got a bit busy with that... In any case, you guys get both 3 and 4 today, so I hope that makes up for it... Sorry again!